Traditional Irish Reel, D
TrailJams Tune of the Week: October 14, 2021
A bright Irish reel with a title that evokes the dance and rustle of ripe barley in the wind.
The stuff of life
Barley was once the stuff of life in the agricultural traditions of Ireland, England, and Scotland. For generations, it was used to make brochán — porridge — as well as thick pottages, stews, and simple breads. On the farm, barley straw served as animal bedding and, in some places, as durable roof thatching, while lower-grade grain and byproducts could feed pigs and poultry. And, of course, barley is still malted and made into beer and whiskey. Unlike wheat, barley is naturally tough and resilient, well suited to the damp, stony, and often acidic conditions of the Irish landscape.
The reel and the ballad
This reel shares its title with the well-known ballad of the 1798 Irish rebellion, but they are not the same tune. The reel is a bright traditional dance tune, while the ballad — written by Robert Dwyer Joyce in the 19th century — is usually sung to a slower, more mournful air. In the song, a young United Irishman — a rebel of the 1798 rising — leaves his sweetheart to join the fight after she is killed by a soldier’s bullet. The barley itself carries a deeper meaning: rebel fighters, sometimes called Croppies, were said to carry barley or oats as food, and when the dead were buried in rough graves, the grain could sprout from the soil. In that image, barley shaking in the wind became a symbol of remembrance, resistance, and new life rising from loss.
Recordings
- Video – Comhaltas: Wind that Shakes the Barley, from the album Foinn Seisiun 2
- Audio – Olympia Traditional Music Sessions: The Wind that Shakes the Barley / Mountain Road, from the album Dingle
Sheet Music
As always for traditional tunes, the musical notation and chords do not indicate the “right” way to play the tune, but are a useful reference.
Play-along Tracks
Sets
Examples of sets that include this tune.
- The Trip to Durrow / The Old Bush / The Wind that Shakes the Barley
- The Merry Blacksmith (D) / Drowsy Maggie (E Dorian) / The Wind that Shakes the Barley (D)
- Ships Are Sailing / Wind That Shakes the Barley / Matt Peoples / Julia Delaney
References and Resources
For those who want to dig deeper, here are some other resources.
- Video – The Fiddle Channel: Wind that shakes the barley (fiddle lesson) – Chris Haigh demonstrates using a simplified tune as a foundation to which you can add notes and ornamentation. He also mentions swing and plays a sample of the tune with and without swing.
- Book & Audio – Tom Morley: Learn to Play Irish Trad Fiddle
- Video – Tom Morley: Learn an Irish Trad Fiddle Tune – The Wind That Shakes the Barley